Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) must be distinguished from Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), which is a completely different psychiatric disorder. Despite some similarity between the irrational themes underlying each disorder, OCPD patients do not typically perform compulsive rituals; rather, they tend to become preoccupied with perfectionism or with ordered regularity or rules. The author points out that Behavioral Modification Therapy is unsuccessful by itself, but it is often combined with Cognitive Therapy, in which the therapist discusses the irrationality of the specific fears underlying the patient's fears and compulsions. The paper states that the first goal of pharmacological treatment of OCD is to maintain a sufficient level of serotonin in the brain to eliminate OCD symptoms.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Symptoms
Treatment
Prognosis

From the Paper:

"The first line of medications used in conjunction with treatment of OCD is anti-anxiety medications or mild sedatives to counteract the increased anxiety that is often brought on by behavioral and cognitive psychotherapeutic approaches. If the patient is unresponsive (or not satisfactorily responsive) to a combination of behavioral and cognitive therapy, the next approach is usually the prescription of a Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor. Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors are classified either as Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SRI) or Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI). As their names imply, both SRI's and SSRI's block the reuptake (or absorption) of the neurotransmitter seratonin to address seratonin insufficiency in the brains of patients exhibiting OCD symptoms. SSRI's are usually employed first because they affect only seratonin; whereas, SRI's also impinge upon other neurotransmitters that are unrelated to OCD symptoms. Consequently, SRI's are more likely to result in coincidental unwanted side effects, such as weight gain, tiredness, dizziness, as well as blood pressure changes and even cardiac irregularities."

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